jhb171achill

The modelling world is, of course, a broad canvas. Just as some of us are particular about one aspect of it, and others not particular about any aspect of it as long as lots of trains fly around the room, wouldn't make either right or wrong. There's the old "Rule 1"; "It's my railway". Equally with models. For me, I want livery to be accurate for the model depicted, and my pet hate is the perpetuation by badly-researched preservation projects of incorrect liveries, which then end up being reproduced in reality and on models as if they were actual. Others, of course, won't have any interest in livery accuracy. Same with engineering details - some will notice the wrong number of rivets on an obscure bogie design, while to others it's "just a bogie". We're all "right" on OUR layout, and none of us are "wrong". So to a model 071 or 201 - if a manufacturer were to produce a model of every single solitary variation in livery, numerals, lamp brackets, window wipers and dents on fuel tanks, then a model of a class with 32 members would end up with 150 model variations. I remember the "tippex"-liveried cab windows and windscreen wipers on an NIR 111 - now, personally, that's less of a big deal to me than a yellow NIR logo or shade of blue far too light or dark would be, but that's just me. I think we can be glad that so many variations of these things HAVE been done. In my teens, I had a BR "Hymek" class 35 diesel - Hornby got the shade of BR blue right on most models but not that one. I simply repainted it with correct numbers etc and it looked light years better; I did the same with Hornby Mk 1 carriages which weren't technically correct. I think if any of us can highlight errors in a constructive way - for "educational" purposes - no bad thing. The rest of us have the option of altering them if we see fit, or leaving them. For me, not just 201s but also 071s are too modern for what I want to do, anyway...... but if anyone ever brings out a RTR MGWR steam loco or another 121 in purple and lime green with tartan buffers, yes, I'll whinge!

Same as steam in late days. It’s all about how we remember things!

That is looking absolutely perfect, Tony, EITHER as actual Fintona, or a generic shunting layout, for which the real Fintona track plan is actually ideal anyway.

I might "know a man". Will look into it.

Dunno…….

Me too - far from being an expert on Irish in any shape or form. A former neighbour, though, was - and he used to absolutely get his knickers in a serious twist at CIE’s spellings!

Early to mid 1990s, I think?

Another well-executed weathering project by “Dempsey” which I was delighted to get. Yes, the bogies carrying most of it is exactly how I remember them. In the new year there will be a couple more, plus a pair of 121s and several A class to be DCC’d and weathered.

Seriously impressive!

Christmas Day means a restricted service, almost as little as a Sunday service. On Christmas Day, 1965, PJ waves the green flag for the 15:35 departure. Today it’s passenger only - normally it’s a mixed. PJ is due in town after his shift. The kids have opened their presents and there’s a lock-in (if you’re in the know) in Johnny P’s; and there’s turkey left over. Make sure the signalman gets some, or he’ll get a bit odd - and you know what’ll happen then. (Did you remember the bottles of stout?) Happy Christmas to all from the strange and parallel world of Dugort Harbour, and we’ll see yiz next year. And off he goes.

The UTA bus from Great Victoria Street to Dunmurry, Lambeg, Lisburn and Brookhall Mill is quiet tonight, though packed. A full night shift on it - girls from Lisburn Road, the "Village" and Stranmillis, but no conversation. Happy Christmas to the mill owner on the Malone Road....but the bus girls, they've rent to pay. Cigarette smoke, musty upholstery and condensation on the windows fill the claustrophobic atmosphere. On Christmas Day, the last train left Belfast at 5.12 - too early. Tonight, the shift gets the girls a shilling extra. Tomorrow, it's back to the train - the "GNR".

We have, actually, considered various ideas. When we started "Rails Through the West", it was never meant to be anything other than a one-off. Both of us were - and still are - busy with other projects of our own. Then "Rails through North Kerry" was borne of one night's slide viewing, and long discussions which followed. And so on. We've both agreed that if and when the day has 25 hours, the week has nine days, and the year has fifteen months; and we both become insomniacs, gawd knows what we'll come up with. But as of now, we've one more thing on the boil. We'll see after that. I'm in the middle of a separate project, and Barry is also. With covid, both of the the historical archives that we need to get into, in our own separate projects, are currently closed to researchers. I'm hoping to get into one in the new year; the other, which both of us need separately, is not yet available. So a series, as such, probably not - due to time and "life" getting in the way; we will jointly and separately plough on, however, and see what the future holds.

Hugely appreciated, John, and I will relay your comments to Barry too! Enjoy, and Happy Christmas!

With both the "A"s and "C"s, Angus, some had the light green waistline and some didn't! It's a bit like the "dayglo" reddish-orange patches on the ends of 141s and 071s in the dying days of the "tippex" livery - some had it and some didn't. Same with the yellow patches on the ends of all-black locos in the mid-1960s; some had the yellow on the ends and some didn't.

Yes, John, very much so. In the model world, bright colours almost always look toy-like; be they on locos, rolling stock, or scenery even. Hence my trepidation, given the excellence of detail of the models straight out of the IRM box. However, reality, if wished for, demands silver locos not only to be weathered, but very heavily so!

Superb stuff; a life long gone.

Correct! Broadstone’s finest.

Notice whether DSER or west Cork, it’s MGWR six-wheelers which dominate!

They were put there by Model Rail Baseboards - so I'm not sure exactly what's in them, as they were complete when delivered. They are surfaced, as is the ground, with real sieved earth, which certainly seems to be the most realistic finish I've seen, though it still needs a good bit of finishing in places (and buffer stops are needed!). The platform where the J15s and the Woolwich are pictured is the cattle bank, surfaced with imitation paving stones (as prototypical) marked out. The platform sides are scribed plastic, painted and weathered.

I should also add that weathering was done with the aid of photos of actual examples of the particular class in a typical state. I say typical - this is for the late 1950s / early 60s period - a decade earlier they would have been much cleaner, though rarely pristine. In this late stage some were actually a lot worse than above. All bar the Woolwiches are actually in the grey livery - this shows how very dirty this could get. Of course, the green could also, as could black. As I've often mentioned before, you only have to look at the supposedly cherry red Donegal tanks, or the "sky blue" GNR locos in their last days when cleaners were paid off - many of these were so dirty that the red or blue was literally invisible, at least on parts. Light grey 121s started life surrounded in places by steam locos, but even after steam had ended, light grey was not the most practical livery to keep clean. Before they were repainted in black'n'tan, some of those got into a very unkempt state too; another weathering job for the future on my grey 121! Weathering seems best done with photos as reference, judging by the excellent efforts of others here too.

Meant to add, all weathering by "Dempsey". Now, how do I pluck up the courage to allow a coat of filthy sludge to cover the silver and green "A"s which I was fortunate enough to get!

The steam fleet at Dugort Harbour. 2 x 00 Works J15s 1 x SSM J15 (not shown) 2 x Bachmann “Woolwich” (one shown, the other awaiting weathering) 1 x JM Design G2 2.4.0. 1 x 00 Works 472 class CBSCR 0.6.0T. Plus a Silverfox “C” class makes an appearance…. Diesels to follow.

Yes, but I don't want to discuss the price!

Just looking for my smelling salts…..!

Only seeing this now. Outstandingly good work!